Northants trust that went from 'requires improvement' to 'outstanding' in three years wins award

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) is celebrating after being named trust of the year at the Health Service Journal Awards in London.

This accolade - presented to the team last week in London - comes just months after NHFT was rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The trust says the award reflects the positive feedback it receives from their patients and is a huge testament to their staff that work hard every day to make a difference to those they care for across community, mental health, learning disability and speciality services – including prison healthcare.

NHFT chief executive, Angela Hillery, said: “It is a huge honour for the trust to be recognised on the national stage for the excellent work we do every day.

"Every member of our staff has played their part, striving to make a difference to the people and communities we support and care for.

"NHFT has celebrated amazing successes this year, but the journey doesn’t end here – we are committed to continuing to improve, innovate, and provide the outstanding care that NHFT is known for.”

The Trust of the Year award recognises organisations, which are offering excellent, patient care and are shown to be innovative and forward thinking to meet the needs of the population they serve.

To be recognised as the Trust of the Year highlights the journey that NHFT has undertaken in the last few years from moving from a CQC rating of ‘Requires Improvement’ in 2015, to ‘Good’ in 2017 and ‘Outstanding’ in 2018.

The HSJ Judges said: “This trust demonstrated an exemplar presentation alongside a truly impressive site visit which showed innovation, honesty and humility. The culture was evidently embedded throughout the trust and the team should be extremely proud as a leader within the NHS community.”

NHFT has also been shortlisted for a Global Equality and Diversity Award.